During Sunday’s 3-1 loss to West Ham United in the Premier League, former Chelsea left back Ashley Cole said manager Mauricio Pochettino made a crucial substitute error.
After Nayef Aguerd put West Ham ahead, Chelsea midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka scored his first senior goal to tie the game at 1-1 before halftime.
Pochettino replaced Chukwuemeka with Mykhailo Mudryk, a Ukrainian, after halftime.
Cole, though, was not happy about Pochettino’s choice.
Perhaps the problem arose as a result of Carney’s removal and Mykhailo’s insertion.
“They [Chelsea] lost some of their game-changing momentum. Between right-back and center-back, they were not able to get any runs in behind. Cole said on Sky Sports, “It became too easy for West Ham.”
“Pochettino will have understood the context behind the change,” he continued, “but I felt they lost a bit of ability to drive beyond and cause West Ham a problem.”
Chelsea dropped to 0-2, with just one point coming from their loss to West Ham.
